Suspending filing system



Dec. 30, 1952 R. A. E. GUICHARD 2,523,527

SUSPENDING FILING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 13, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1n venlor RHY/VO/VO fi/PTHUF' EUGENE GU/C/V/VPD,

A ltorney Dec. 30, 1952 R. A. E. GUICHARD 2,623,527 SUSPENDING FILING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 13, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hum" F/GS. 9 F/G? J 29 p I Mil y A n wg 'llh. m I 22 3 23 22 2 23 lrzvenlor Attorney Dec. 30, 1952 R. A. E. GUICHARD SUSPENDING FILING SYST Filed Sept. 15, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 .lllll IIHW E ENE 60/6/19950, Q l y Aitorn e y Dec. 30, 1952 R. A. E. GUICHARD 2,623,527

SUSPENDING FILING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 15, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Attorney Patented Dec. 30, 1952 SUSPENDING FILINGSYSTEM Raymond Arthur Eugene Guichard, Paris, France Application'september 13, 1948, Serial No. 48,947 In Great Britain December 15, 1947 7 Claims. (or. "129- 16) This invention relates to that kind of filing system in which folders for documents are suspended vertically from a pair of parallel rails or the like, which usually form part of a metal frame inserted in a drawer of a filing cabinet.

In filing systems of this kind it is of course important to label each folder and it is very dcsirable that all the labels should be at the same height so that each will be clearly visible and the whole assembly will present a neat appearance. The suspension is commonly efiected by providing metal bars which span the rails and have hooked ends. These bars are attached to the folders in various ways and take various forms.

In some of the systems in common use the folders are independent of One another or are so interconnected as to be easily separable and are removed individually from the drawer. One or more bars are removed whenever a complete folder is removed, and their hooked ends may catch on some part of the filing system and thus be a nuisance or they may scratch any desk on which they are put.

In other systems the folders are assembled in interlinked fashion and are not removed individually. Instead, the papers or other documents are actually put in smaller folders within the;

suspended folders, and the small or inserted folder is removed when required. However these systems are not wholly satisfactory, as the index label is not attached to the inserted folder so that when several inserted folders are removed at once there is a risk of their being put back in the wrong suspended folders. If this happens, much time may be wasted in rectifying the mistake.

An object of this invention is so to suspend folders that they will all have free upper edges at the same level, but they are separate from the suspension bars, so that when any folder is removed the suspension bar or bars associated with it remain in place.

Another object is to provide a series of pockets for the folders and to suspend one leaf of each folder from the top edge of a pocket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a series of continuous pockets suspended from bars, together with a series of folders each carrying an index label, one folder being put in each pocket and carrying its label with it on removal from the pocket.

A further object of the invention is to provide a filing system in which not only is it unnecessary to remove one or more suspension bars when a folder is removed but also no bar can normally be removed with a folder.

Yet another object is to provide novel suspension bars and complementary folders by which the folders can be connected together in concertina fashion particularly satisfactorily.

A still further object is the provision of improved label holder on a file folder.

These and other objects are made clear by the foliowing description of various embodiments of the invention which are shown in the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of system;

Figur 2 is an elevation of one of the suspension bars of the system;

Figure 3 is a section on Figure 2;,

Figure 4 shows a sheet of paper from which a pocket is formed;

1 Figure 5 shows a sheet of cardboard from which a folder is formed;

Figure 6 shows the top of a folder with a label holder in plan view;

. Figures 7 and 8 are respectively an end elevation and a front elevation of the part shown in Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a section through one of the bars part of one the line III-4H in supporting two pockets and a folder;

'Figurelo is a perspective view showing a modifled bar and pocket;

Figure 11 shows another modified bar and pocket;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of part of a modified system; and

Figure 13 is a section through two pockets of a the system shown in Figure 12.

.The filing system shown in Figure 1 includes two horizontal rails forming part of a drawer 2 of a filing cabinet. A series of suspension bars 3 is provided. As clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3 each bar 3 has a hook 4 at each end and a lug iiprojecting below and in the same plane as the hook, this lug 5 being long enough just to project under the rail 5 but short enoughto allow the bar to be put in postion or removed when the bar is turned out of a position at right-angles to the rails. Each bar 3 is castellated, that is to say; has troughs 6 alon its upper edge. The parts I of the upper edge between these troughs have horizontal flanges 8. is an inclined part 9.

The bars 3 support and form the tops of a series of pockets H), each formed from a web of paper or other sheet material ll (Figure 54') folded into M-shape withthe central V forming two leaves I? and the wings forming flaps l'3. Folding lines M are made byvdenting the sheet Close to each hook 4 there material II and the depth of each pocket can be varied by appropriate choice of the lines M, the flaps l3 being shortened and the pocket deepened or widened by choosing folding lines nearer the free edges of the fiaps. Slots l5 are made along each folding line to correspond with the parts 1 of the rods 3, and the pockets are assembled by passing the flanges 8 and upstanding parts 1 through these slots. It will be seen that a concertina pocket system is produced with a number of bars one greater than the number of pockets by making each bar form the top of two adjacent pockets, as shown particularly in Fig-.- ure 9.

A series of folders I6 is provided, each made from cardboard or other sheet material indented to form folding lines ll. The material is either folded about the central lines [1 into V-shape or about two lines to form a rectangular bottom 18 joining two leaves l9 and 20. The choice of the folding lines depends upon the number of papers to be accommodated in the folder, and as this number increases and the space within the folder must be increased in width correspondingly, the material can be refolded about lines I! progressively nearer the free edges. The depth and width of the pocket in which the folder is placed can be correspondingly varied by passing the flanges 8 through a line of slots l5 nearer the edge of a flap l3.

The leaf I9 of the folder is secured to a metal strip 22 of inverted channel section, which has a series of upturned lugs 23 which pass through slots 24 in the leaf l9 and are pressed towards the body of the strip to clamp the leaf. When the folder is put in a pocket this strip 22 is hooked over a bar 3 and rests on top of the upper edges of two adjacent pockets so that the leaf 19 of the folder is suspended from the bar. The other leaf is left free so that the bottom of the folder rests on the bottom of the pocket.

The top horizontal part 25 of the strip 22- serves as a support for a strip label 26, on which a name or other matter can be typewritten. It is usual to cover and protect any such strip label by a transparent sheath. Such a sheath is shown at 21 and, it will be seen, has inturned legs 28. To hold the sheath in position while allowing it to slide along the top of the folder, the part 25 is provided with projections 29, each formed by making two longitudinal slits 3t spaced apart by the width of the label, usually about and by pressing the metal between the slits outwards to make a fiat-topped surface about 3%" above the rest of the surface. The projections 29 may conveniently be long and be spaced apart by the same distance. In order to allow the sheath 21 to slide freely the projections 28 are T-shaped when viewed from the end and therefore the metal connecting the raised surface with the remainder is narrower than the body of the projection, thus forming the stem of the T. To produce this result the ends of the slits curve in towards one another as shown at 3| and then become parallel again. The effect of the projection 29 is to provide a discontinuous raised surface on which the label 26 rests and is held by the sheath 21, the legs 28 of which engage under the sides of the pro jections 29.

The projections 29 in the strip 22 may be formed by stamping. Alternatively the strip may be made of a plastic, in which case the projections may be formed by moulding. The strip maybe fastened to the document or folder'in 4 any other convenient way instead of by the lugs 23.

It will be seen that in this filing system the weight of each folder and its contents is taken partly by the bar 3 and partly by the pocket. A single label may be used for each folder, and yet all the labels are at the same level. Moreover, the strips 22 are prevented from moving along the bars by the parts 9, which form abutments for both the strips and the ends of the folders, and so the edges of the strips and folders are all in alignment.

The use of the castellated bars 3 enables the fiaps of the pockets to hook over the bars particularly neatly and, as described above, the depth of a pocket can easily be adjusted.

The provision of the hooks 4 and lugs 5 at the ends of the bars 3 eliminates the possibility that the user of the system in removing a folder may also lift a bar, because the bars cannot be lifted off the rails by direct upward movement.

The system shown in Figures 1 to 9 can be modified in various ways. For instance, bars 35 as shown in Figure 10 may be used. These differ from the bars 3 in that each is formed with a single trough 36 and also with two slots 3?. The pocket is formed from two narrow webs 38 of paper or other material. The end of each of these is passed through the lower slots 31 and back through the upper slots before passing over the top of the bar as do the inner webs in Figure 10, so that each web is held in position by friction but the depth and width of each pock et can easily be varied. The flaps or webs forming an adjacent pocket can be passed through the slots in the same way, as do the outer webs in Figure 10.

Slotted bars such as those shown in Figure 10 can be used with pockets having hook shaped ends, as shown in Figure 11. Here the pocket consists of cardboard 42 having a metal strip 43 of C section secured to each free edge; one hook engages in a slot of a bar and the other hook engages over the next bar. The size of the pockets can be varied by using bars having slots at different heights and choosing the appropriate slot for the hook.

Figures 12 and 13 show a system in which pockets are formed by folders 44 each having a suspension bar @5 secured to the upper edge of each leaf. These pockets receive folders 46 each having a horizontal part 41 integral with the edge of one leaf and a flap 48 integral with the part 51. The flap $8 is hooked over a bar 35 of the pocket in which the folder 46 is put and also over the adjacent bar of the next pocket, so that when all the folders are in position all the pockets are joined together in concertina fashion. Cardboard strips 69 are secured by staples 58 to the parts 4'! and serve as supports for labels 5! protected by sheaths 52. V

I claim:

1. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, a plurality of folders, each folder fitting into one of said pockets and means attached to at least one of the free edges of each of said folders hooking over at least one of said bars at one of its free edges to positively support said folder.

2. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, each of said bars, between said end bars, lying at an upper edge of and uniting two of said pockets, a plurality of folders, each folder fitting into one of said pockets and means attached to at least one of the free edges of said folders hooking over one of said bars at one of its free edges.

3. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, said bars forming the tops of said pockets, and a plurality of folders, each folder fitting into one of said pockets and means attached -to at least one of the free edges of each of said folders hooking over two of said bars at one of its free edges and thereby serving to connect two adjacent pockets together.

4. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, and a plurality of folders, each folder fitting into one of said pockets and having an inverted-U part at one edge, said inverted-U part hooking over at least one of said bars and carrying a strip label.

5. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, and a plurality of folders, each having at the edge of one leaf an integral hook-shaped part comprising a horizontal label-supporting surface and a flap, each folder fitting into one of said pockets with its hook-shaped part engaging over one of the bars thereof.

6. A filing system comprising a pair of parallel horizontal supports, a plurality of suspension bars slidable along said supports, a series of pockets each constituted by at least one web of material attached to two of said bars, and a plurality of folders, each folder carrying at one free edge a strip of inverted-U shape presenting an upper label-supporting surface, and each folder fitting into one of said pockets with said strip hooking over one of the bars thereof.

7. A filing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each bar is formed close to each end with an abutment for the end of the folder.

RAYMOND ARTHUR EUGENE GUICI-IARD.

REFERENCES CITED I'he following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1, 29,552 Wagner June 12, 1917 1,438,152 Weinacht Dec. 5, 1922 1,438,582 Craig Dec. 12, 1922 1,741,157 Hutchings Dec. 31, 1929 1,851,595 Rand Mar. 29, 1932 2,085,496 Guichard June 29, 1937 2,174,201 Chauvin Sept. 26, 1939 2,348,909 Jonal May 16, 1944 2,493,530 Saussure Jan. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 196,370 Switzerland Mar. 13, 1937 528,053 Great Britain Oct. 22, 1940 594,173 Great Britain Nov. 5, 1947 

